A Positive Voice for Atheism
IN THIS EDITION: FEMEN’s Radical Women’s Liberation Movement Group Think, Therefore It Is Meaning, Purpose, and Science in Secular Communities Will Change in Nigeria's Government Improve the Climate of Religious Tolerance?
Third Quarter: 2015
A Positive Voice For Global Atheism
Third Quarter : 2015
In this issue... Letter from the President by Christine M. Shellska
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Letter from the Editor by Rustam Singh
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FEMEN’s Radical Women’s Liberation Movement by Inna Shevchenko
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Group Think, Therefore It Is by Craig Simpson
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Meaning, Purpose, and Science in Secular Communities by Gleb Tsipursky
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Will Change in Nigeria's Government Improve the Climate of Religious Tolerance? by Stuart Bechman
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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
Letter from the Editor RUSTAM SINGH
Welcome to the third quarter 2015 edition of the Secular World magazine. As the 'holy' month of Ramadan ends and Muslims voluntarily put themselves through ritualistic deprivation (except parts of China, where fasting is banned), I am reminded of the everyday struggles of fitting in a society that promotes such activities of self-denial and starvation, especially to its children. The clear effects of a seemingly personal activity can be felt in areas where the rules are strictly imposed, such as Pakistan where combined with the heatwave, a large number of the 1500+ fatalities were owed directly to the dehydration resulting from no water or food during this Ramadan.
Supreme Court, waves of discontent from fundamentalist believers could not suppress the excitement of a new era of equal human rights’ reflection on social media. It wasn't surprising how Islamic and Christian speakers stressed the same flawed arguments against this progressive verdict: This could result in breaking down of family values, The real threat to our The Book prohibits it, it is against the order of collective intelligence lies nature, etc. Such fundamentally different in the stoic silence religions sharing the same hatred towards observed by rationalists, mankind should be a clear indicator that such humanists and atheists individuals and doctrines that seek to divide us, should not only be outnumbered peacefully, but over matters of shamed, trolled and mocked and opposed questionable moral vehemently in their attempts to sabotage policy making away from secular laws. Unfortunately, implications, and following the news, the ruling party in power in allowing religious India was quick to remind us there is no intention policies/individuals to to decriminalize the “genetic disorder� of homosexuality here. win arguments by
Religious dogma has always been served wrapped in a cultural propaganda, to keep it hidden from sceptics. In India, the Hindu propaganda has recently taken the form of a vigorous promotion of yoga, complete with the sun-worshiping acts and mystical chants, just as ancient Hindu texts have prescribed as an ideal way of life. Ads funded by the Central Education & Health Ministry on the radio and TV and in newspapers use celebrity promotions to promote to kids the idea that yoga will keep their mind sharp and their body active as part of a healthy lifestyle while priorities to feed the hungry are ignored. India hosts the highest number of hungry people in the world today, default. and hosts twice the number of underweight The real threat to our collective intelligence lies children than sub-Saharan Africa but it in the stoic silence observed by rationalists, prioritizes funding for a recreational activity such as yoga over humanists and atheists over matters of questionable moral better access to food and scientific healthcare. While this sounds implications, and allowing religious policies/individuals to win harmless, the false hopes it raises to deal with real health arguments by default. Almost every form of repression ignored by problems of epidemic proportions can be compared to rationalists is because of fear of being labelled a discriminating homeopathy or prayers: Nothing more than a placebo with a feel hateful person, Islamophobic, anti-national or a sympathiser. To good factor. be truly secular, one must distinctively refuse to support any form As America celebrates the historic marriage equality verdict by its Third Quarter : 2015 |
of advantageous benefit, whether in reservations, favouritism, celebrations or customary practises. The real danger to public
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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR rationality arises not from extremists alone, but from borderline conservative commentators who moderate the extremists' message of hate and aggression into something that sounds reasonable and deserving of equal status in public policy. Fundamentalists lose support from believers as well as progressive agnostics simply because their methods are so crude and transparent. However, eloquent apologists, seek to twist words and find science in their religious texts, or extract bits of text that remotely mention a positive thought and repeat it till the audience believes the real interpretation of the text is peaceful and caring, form stronger impressions with their falsified sense of hope. Religious doctrines, by definition of the rules described in it, cannot be cherry-picked at will: it must be either accepted completely, or not at all. Moderate believers are good (benign) only insofar as they do not support regressive beliefs. Here, the conflict arises whether to question pseudo-liberal scholars of religious texts that preach positivity about their religion and risk losing their support for atheist rights and secular laws, or allow the propaganda to spread. Whether it is reverse constructed logic draped in aggressive anti-progressive thoughts from viral internet sensations such as Zakir Naik, or outspoken religious leaders that continue to promote their moral policing constantly on public broadcast, each claim from a so-called liberal believer must be combated with an equal non-violent protest, exercising our own right to free speech to counter such views. Without doubt, these moderate believers who want to advocate the classic “this isn't in The Book” or “the extremists weren't true believers” cards must have access to free speech and the same rights as anyone else to promote their liberal adaption of religious texts. However, when such men and women are in power to shape public opinion on a massive scale, or change laws, the implications can be frightening. Take for example, the terribly flawed anti-vaccine debate in America and its conservative adaptations in Pakistan, where polio workers are threatened and the disease flourishes as a result of it. While conservative Christians in the West argue against birth control and lobby for anti-abortion laws, several countries including India still struggle to get access to these essential medical options or overturn conservative sexist laws to provide sexual empowerment and reduce its stigma. Given enough power, even liberals that insist on laws on morality to be determined through religious texts will surely suppress human progression. Laws, national or international, are formed either by forwarding a pre-existing popular public opinion into the legal process, or major lobbyists who happen to use their resources and time wisely to be able to pressure those in power to cave in to their demands. It calls for us as humanists and atheists to move out of our way to contribute to this public voice, to be heard and have our voices represented in forming secular laws, and providing an atheist alternative to every religious opinion. Closeted atheists or agnostics would feel much more comfortable if those offering Third Quarter : 2015 |
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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR rational support and answers were themselves more accepted and dealing with life better, emotionally, mentally and socially. With this thought in mind, I encourage all Secular World readers to support us in highlighting issues that show a positive image for atheists, or in promoting secular regulations that promote equality and freedom without the promotion of conservative moral policing. In this edition, we have an article on herd mentality and how gross generalizations and apologists cloud a fair debate on issues, a detailed perspective on the meaning and purpose of life from an atheist's viewpoint, an exclusive writeup on the international women’s rights group FEMEN’s radical approach against bigotry, patriarchy, homophobia and religion and a story on Nigeria’s change in government and its impact on religious tolerance in the country. I hope you enjoy this edition of the magazine and as always, I look forward to your contributions and feedback.
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world of total equality between men and women, gays and heterosexuals, with equality between nationalities, between ethnicities, rich and poor, equality between those who govern the countries and their citizens.
FEMEN’s Radical Women’s 500 years ago, women were burnt to death in Liberation religious witch hunts. Today's Christian Church has more sophisticated Movement means of oppression by
Leading the international women's movement, FEMEN, with which we are trying to rebuild the world without permission, I discovered many obstacles on the way to the humanistic revolution we thirst for. While patriarchy was a stronger contender, the greatest obstacle until now for progress in human rights remains religion.
INNA SHEVCHENKO Facing the unjust everyday reality, discovering new attempts of governments and institutions to take away our rights, living in zones of terrorism (as any place can become such a zone today) don't you dream of a new society in which “equality” would become the highest law? I do. I dream of how it would feel to be living in a
promoting and imposing the patriarchal belief that women have an exclusive duty to serve as literal incubators for the next generation, thus denying women's sexual freedom and their right to reproductive choice
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Luckily, we live in a time when women's rights are not considered as completely inexistent. We can vote and most of do not need to struggle for our right to education, we can drive cars and manifest our sexual freedom. On the surface it might seem that we got our fundamental rights, however gender equality remains deeply uneven on a global scale and these fundamental rights are still very often denied for women in several parts of the world. Not surprisingly, this denial is often based upon religious beliefs and male-centric morals. FEMEN movement considers religious institutions as an enemy of human rights and takes them amongst its
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held, usually in conjunction with the adoption of a new Constitution. The winner of those elections would usually allow or even encourage a climate of corruption during their elected term to entrench their party, allowing them and their friends to amass significant wealth and ensuring that they would win future elections. And when they reached the limit of their terms as specified in the Constitution, the national leader would mount a campaign within their party to overturn those limits, effectively paving the way to serve for life. (The cynical description of this political process in post-colonial Africa has been known as: One Person, One Vote, One Time.) If the corruption or incompetence of the leader was significant enough, military leaders or warlords would eventually rise up to accomplish an overthrow of the sitting government, where the usual result was the cycle would once again repeat. Of all of the post-colonial African governments, only South Africa had successfully accomplished a peaceful transition of power from the ruling party to the challenger, with the presidential election of Nelson Mandela.
Will Change in Nigeria's Government Improve the Climate of Religious Tolerance?
Nigeria followed the same trend as the rest of post-colonial Africa. After independence in 1960, the first president was elected in 1963. But power imbalances among the tribal groups as well as meddling by international powers led to a series of coups in 1966 that blew apart into full civil war for the next four years. In 1970, the civil war ended with the military victors taking the reins of power at the same time that Nigeria joined OPEC, making the government and its
STUART BECHMAN
In June, the presidential election in Nigeria between incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan and challenger Muhammadu Buhari resulted in an outcome rarely seen in African elections: The incumbent was defeated. Even more surprising - to the point of being the first time ever to occur in Nigeria and most all of sub-Saharan Africa - the incumbent accepted the results and agreed to fully cooperate in the governmental succession. To some extent, this surprising outcome was the result of a number of happenstance events that occurred in Nigerian politics over the past decade. Going back to 2007, Nigeria's politics were typical of most of post-colonial Africa: once independence was gained, national elections would be Third Quarter : 2015 |
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AAI Associate/Affiliate Members Afghanistan Afghanistan Atheists Organization www.facebook.com/pages/Af ghansAtheistsOrganization/29098836092938 3 Australia Atheist Foundation of Australia www.atheistfoundation.org.a u Progressive Atheists www.progressiveatheists.org Sydney Atheists Incorporated www.SydneyAtheists.org Brazil Secular Humanist League of Brazil www.ligahumanista.org Canada Libres penseurs athĂŠes www.lpa.atheisme.ca www.AFT.atheisme.ca Croatia Center for Civil Courage www.CivilCourage.hr Denmark Ateistisk Selskab (Danish Atheist Society) www.ateist.dk Finland Suomen Ateistyhdistys www.dlc.fi/~etkirja/Atheist.ht m Germany Internationaler Bund der Konfessionslosen und Atheisten
www.ibka.org Greece Atheist Union of Greece www.atheia.gr
Rico www.humanistaspr.org South Africa Free Society Institute www.fsi.org.za
Indonesia Indonesian Atheists www.indonesianatheists.wor dpress.com
Spain Iniciativa Atea www.iniciativaatea.org
Ireland Atheist Ireland www.atheist.ie
Turkey Ateism Dernegi www.facebook.com/ateizmde rnegieski
Israel Hofesh – Freedom from Religion NPO www.Hofesh.org.il/English/I ndex.html Lebanon Freethought Lebanon www.freethoughtlebanon.net Netherlands Atheistisch Verbond (Atheist Union) www.atheistischverbond.nl Norway The Heathen Society www.hedning.no Philippines Philippine Atheists & Agnostics Society Inc (PATAS) www.patas.co Humanist Alliance Philippines International www.hapihumanist.org Puerto Rico Secular Humanists of Puerto
Uganda Humanist Association for Leadership, Equity & Accountability (HALEA) www.haleauganda.org United Kingdom Atheism UK www.atheismuk.com United States of America Atheist Alliance of America www.atheistallianceamerica.o rg Council of ex-Muslims of North America www.exmna.org Freedom From Religion Foundation www.ffrf.org Secular Humanist Society of New York www.shsny.org